'Sky is the limit': Golden Knights not satisfied with strong regular season

Vegas Golden Knights left wing Erik Haula knocks the puck away from goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche on March 26, 2018THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Playoff hockey? This is brand new.

There’s no doubt, though, this city knows how to party.

That reputation was established long, long before Las Vegas scored an NHL franchise of their own, long before the expansion Golden Knights emerged as the best story in the hockey world this winter, exceeding expectations and shattering the previous records for most success by a squad in its inaugural season.

“Vegas is going to be bumping come playoff time,” predicted Golden Knights defenceman Nate Schmidt, wearing a wide grin as he imagined the spring scene at T-Mobile Arena. “I mean, Vegas is the best of the best when it comes to entertainment, right? And excitement and enthusiasm and fans being able to drink beer on the street until the game-time starts from 10 a.m. on … So, the place is going to be absolutely buzzing.

“There have been times when you can’t even talk to your buddy on the bench — and that’s in a regular-season game. That is pretty incredible. It’s what you dream for as a player.”

Before pucks dropped in the fall, sell-out crowds and a sea of jerseys along The Strip seemed like about the best the Golden Knights could hope for in their welcome-to-the-NHL winter.

Their roster stocked with mostly castaways and unproven commodities, playoff action seemed like a pipe dream.

On Wednesday, it becomes reality.

As pennant winners in the Pacific Division, the Golden Knights are the Western Conference’s second seed and will host the Los Angeles Kings in a best-of-seven opening-round set.

“This team, we’ve turned a lot of heads,” said first-liner Reilly Smith. “We’ve been continuously getting better, and I think that’s been one big key to our success is we that haven’t been too satisfied with what we’ve accomplished so far.”

Added leading scorer William Karlsson, who finished third in the Maurice Richard Trophy race with 43 tallies: “The sky is the limit. But we’ll start with Round 1.”

With a 51-24-7 mark, the Golden Knights certainly didn’t sneak into the spring dance.

On the first night of February, they erased the record for most victories by an expansion troupe. Later that month, they eclipsed the previous standard for points by a first-year franchise.

They’ve achieved all that mostly with the crew that general manager George McPhee assembled on June 21, 2017, when he selected from the list of leftovers as his cohorts protected either nine or 11 of their core pieces.

Crash-and-bang forward Ryan Reaves was one of the late arrivals, joining the Golden Knights just days before the trade deadline as part of a complicated three-way swap that landed Derick Brassard in Pittsburgh.

How soon did Reaves, who spent seven seasons in St. Louis before his stint with the defending champion Penguins, realize there was something special happening in Sin City?

“To be honest, I think it was the first video session,” he replied. “Usually, you watch video and it’s not a lot of fun, but they were ooohing and ahhhing at guys making plays and clapping and whistling at goals and nice passes. You don’t see that a lot. That first day, I could tell how much fun they have here and how tight a group it is …

“We put the work in, but it’s definitely a bunch of little kids coming to the rink and having fun doing what they love. And I think everybody wants that to continue. I don’t think anybody wants to go home anytime soon.”

Once considered the ultimate long-shot, the Golden Knights are now listed among the Stanley Cup faves in every sports-book on The Strip.

Inside the dressing room, the underdog mentality remains.

“It’s different because in Washington, we were expected to win the Stanley Cup the last couple of years,” Schmidt, formerly of the Capitals, said. “With our group, we’re still like, ‘Let’s just — to use a Vegas term — let the chips fall where they may.’ Let’s just go out and play our game and we’ll see how it goes.”

With 62 career post-season triumphs, the backbone of this expansion bunch has the most playoff victories among the 16 starters this spring.

“He’s had an outstanding season,” Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant told NHL.com. “And I think the biggest thing is he’s got a lot of pride and he wanted to prove to people that he’s still a real good goalie.”

He’s certainly done that.

After backstopping the Penguins to a championship parade in 2017, Fleury was the Golden Knights’ prized pickup in the expansion draft.

The man they call ‘Flower’ posted a stingy 2.24 goals-against average and a sparkling .927 save percentage in his first season in Vegas

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